@methodshop: Apple Announces iPhone, Apple TV

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Apple Announces iPhone, Apple TV

Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Apple, a company known for innovation, has been very fortunate in this regard. In 1984 they introduced the world to the first Macintosh and changed personal computing forever. Then in 2001 Apple introduced the first iPod and redefined the music industry.

Today Apple introduced 3 revolutionary products: widescreen iPod, mobile phone, and internet communicator. But there's a catch... these revolutionary products aren't 3 separate devices. They are all rolled into one product called the iPhone ($499 4GB, $599 8GB).

The iPhone (GSM+EDGE) has a touchscreen interface with multitouch capabilities. That means you can use multiple fingers at the same time. How can such a small device have an advanced multitouch interface? The iPhone runs the Macintosh operating system OS X. How did Apple fit an entire operating system into a tiny phone? I don't know. Magic?

The iPhone syncs to your computer just like your iPod. All your media (music, videos, podcasts, etc.) as well as contacts, email amd calendars will sync to your iPhone. You can even add any any IMAP or POP email account. Yahoo users will like this next perk. Yahoo is giving all iPhone owners free IMAP email. You normally have to pay extra for this feature.

Web browsing on a mobile phone was probably one of the worst user experiences you've ever encountered. Well those days are over. The iPhone uses the Safari browser and can smoothly navigate complicated sites like Google Maps.

And if all this iPhone business wasn't enough, Steve Jobs also announed Apple TV ($299) - a way to enjoy your media on your big screen TV. Anything you put into iTunes (content from iTunes, DVDs you've ripped, videos from YouTube, etc.) can be wirelessly transmitted to your Apple TV box.